The Acousto-Ultrasonic Characterization of Physical Properties of Human Bones

Abstract

In this work, the acousto-ultrasonic technique was utilized to non-destructively characterize two biological parameters of human bone specimens: the weight and mineral content densities. It has been previously shown that these two parameters have great effect on bone strength, thus by employing the non-invasive acousto-ultrasonic technique one can obtain vital information about bone strength without using any ionizing radiation. In the present study, the bones were characterized both by common techniques, for example gamma rays and acousto-ultrasonic, and the results of the study indicate that the acousto-ultrasonic parameter which best correlates with the weight and mineral content densities of human bones was the peak amplitude of the received acousto-ultrasonic signals. The peak amplitude of the acousto-ultrasonic signal and the weight density of the bone specimens was found to be linearly related with a coefficient of correlation r = 0.68. The coefficient of linear correlation between the mentioned acousto-ultrasonic parameter and the mineral content density was r = 0.63. This preliminary study demonstrated the potential of employing the acousto-ultrasonic technique as a non-invasive means to determine physical properties of human bones. The results suggest that the peak amplitude of the acousto-ultrasonic signals can be related to the bone strength

Keywords

• acousto-ultrasonic technique, physical properties, human bone, bone density